


It's not just my life

by DailyLife



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M, Foster home, Gen, Hitch hiking, Missouri - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2015-04-25
Packaged: 2018-03-20 19:30:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3662250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DailyLife/pseuds/DailyLife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just about 16 years ago Rafael Barba met the mother of Whitney Windsor in Missouri while on a trip with his alumni mock group from Harvard. She came back to New York City with him and left when her brother threatened to hurt Rafael if she didn't come home. This is what happened when Whitney finds Rafael.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sikeston Missouri is a real city, I would know I have a picture infront of the city sign. Anyways hope you enjoy.

It was just past 9:30pm on a Saturday and Olivia had just finished going over the paperwork that Carisi had given her to look over, so she looked up out into the empty bullpen. Everyone else has left early because it was a Saturday and they had plans ether with each other or other friends that they had. The thought of it made Liv start missing the days when she was just a rookie and could go out and do those things but now she was here in the office like Cragen used to be until the early morning.

After a moment of thinking, daydreaming and reminensing in the past, she cleared her head and then actually looked out into a bullpen where a teenager was walking into the room. Liv stood up and new in an instant that the girl was looking for some one, with that in mind she walked out of her office and towards where the girl was. The girl looked a bit older than most of the kids in puberty cases they had gotten recently were but didn't look quite old enough to be 18, her face features were sharp but subtle, her dark hair was flecked with blonde hairs and she was carrying a small bag over her shoulder with a piece of paper or something in her hand, it made Olivia wonder.

"Hello, I'm Sargent Olivia Benson how can I help you?" Liv greeted the girl, hoping not to scare her off.

"Um yes" the girl answered, awkwardly moving the paper in her hands back and forth "I'm looking for him" she finally decided and gave the paper to Olivia. Liv looked at the paper, it was a news paper clipping from a paper a few weeks back and the only thing on it was a picture of Barba with the caption 'Rafael Barba of the Manhattan SVU team help convict several of a group who gang raped a college student.. more on page 27'.

"Oh ADA Barba? He doesn't work in this building. But may I ask why you need to see him?" Olivia asked cautiously because the girl seemed like she was going to run out of the building like she was on fire or something.

"He's my father." The girl almost replied matter of factly but didn't. She didn't relax ether, but what she did was look like Barba only a few shades darker with a most western accent but like she did look like him..

"Okay well, why don't I call him and have him come down here. While we wait why do you sit" Olivia gestured for the girl to follow her into the witness interview room and the girl did "in here." 

The girl nodded and took a seat on the couch. Olivia took a deep breath, gave another look to her and then went back into her office picking up her cell phone.

First she called in Fin and Amanda who were not happy about being pulled away from whatever they were doing to help with the situation. Then she called Barba, she told him that there was a situation at the precinct where he was needed; nothing more, nothing less.

Tonight was going to be a very long night.

Amanda watched from Liv's office as Fin and Olivia talked to the girl, whose name they had found to be was [ first name ideas?] Windsor. She had hitched hiked and walked all the way from Sikeston, Missouri after her foster father had beaten her foster mother then threatened her. Her story was realistic and consistent enough for even Amanda to start believing her. 

When Barba walked in the mood changed immediately. Amanda rapped on the one way window-mirror to get Olivia and Fin in the room then closed the blinds quickly as Barba, in a very grouchy mood to say the least asked a lot of questions she didn't know how to answer.

Olivia leaned against her desk in an relaxed way as a effort to keep the mood calm, it didn't help. "Rafael, I called you down here because" she paused to take a reassuring breath "because a girl claiming to be your daughter showed up from Missouri a few hours ago and so we have to figure this out."

Barba's face dropped and became more confused than anything else "What? My daughter- I never-" he looked at the covered window then at Olivia "What?"

"Have you ever been married? Maybe had a girlfriend that got pregnant and didn't tell you?" Amanda pressed but Olivia gave her a warning look to not press on. 

"I have never been married- other than to the job and I certainly never had sex without- I would have noticed if I had even had the possibility of getting someone pregnant." Barba's suit that was slightly wrinkled from the day hung heavy on his shoulders as he raked his hand through his hair and looked at Olivia in disbelief.

"What- Who does she says her mother is?" With his question his unoccupied hand came to cover his mouth as he watched Liv for her response.

"She won't tell us anything other than her name, the city where she came from and who she was living with before."

"Nothing else?"

"Well Rollins was just going to go contact the police in Sikeston-" Olivia was cut off by Rafael.

"Sikeston Missouri?" Rafael said in still disbelief and added under his breath "oh my god" then quickly exited the office hurrying for the elevators.

Olivia gave Fin a look and sighed, taking a moment to collect her thoughts about the situation then she walked swiftly out of her office and after him, calling his name.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just about 16 years ago Rafael Barba met the mother of Whitney Windsor in Missouri while on a trip with his alumni mock group from Harvard. She came back to New York City with him and left when her brother threatened to hurt Rafael if she didn't come home. This is what happened when Whitney finds Rafael.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys seriously its a real city. look it up.. Lol

"Barba! Barba!" Olivia called after Rafael as she followed him out of the bullpen to the hallway towards the elevator.

Rafael ignored her and made it to the elevator doors, he pressed the down button rapidly as Olivia caught up to him. 

"Barba what is so important Sikeston, Missouri?" Olivia asked as she took a hold of his shoulder and turned him towards herself. 

The look of disbelief and fear hadn't left his face. Rafael looked up at Olivia and her heart twinged "Sikeston, Missouri was the city where Harvard sent my alumni mock group to talk to students in the high schools. I met a girl up there, she came back to New York with me and her brother threatened to hurt me if she didn't come home" He took a breath. "And that trip was 16 years ago."

"That doesn't mean-" Olivia started to say but couldn't finish "I'm sorry Rafael, you couldn't have known."

Rafael turned from Olivia and said to himself "Damn it" the frustration almost visible around his furrowed brow. And with it he gave a kick to the stainless steel trashcan, slightly denting it.

"Rafael we are going to figure this out, let us do our job" Olivia spoke to Rafael almost softly but she knew this wasn't a time to baby him "go home it's late and I will call you in the morning if we make anymore progress."

And with that he nodded and entered the empty elevator doors, muttering to himself probably more profanities than anything.

 

 

Olivia sat across from Whitney, taking a deep breath and then starting up her new sequence of questions "So how long have you been in the city?"

Whitney sighed " I don't know maybe two, it took me a while to walk around central park and had to go into the park to sleep so.."

Olivia scribbled down a few notes before continuing with the questions "What did you think would happen when you found Mr. Barba?"

Whitney shrugged "I mean I don't really know, I mean I guess I would tell him the situation and if he believed me or not was up to question."

"Tell me again why you left your home to come up here, couldn't you have asked your social worker that you wanted to find your biological father?" And Olivia used the term 'biological' lightly.

"I left my foster home up here because I wanted to talk to my real father. I tried to earlier but my social worker told me that it was a lost cause.. "

Olivia nodded and wrote down a few more notes, stood up and smiled "Thank You Whitney. Detective Tutuola and Rollins will show you where you can sleep tonight." And with that she left.

 

 

 

"Lets call it a night but what we need to do tomorrow is run a DNA test so we can confirm her story." Oliva said with a sigh.

"What if her and Barba's DNA don't match?" Rollins asked.

"We figure out who she really is and we go from there." Olivia replied, gathering her coat and keys from her desk.

"Barba is not going to be happy with a needle coming towards his wardrobe." Fin signed, shoving his hands into the front pockets of his pants. 

"Barba is never happy."

"He'll get over it."

"I don't think that he is happy right now." 

"If Whitney is lying, and the press finds out.. His reputation is done for." Fin added.

"If this at all leaks out of us, Barba will get shredded by the DA and the press. And 1PP will be up our ass asking why we didn't turn this over to them. Are we clear?" At that point Olivia was mainly taking to Rollins.

"I will call Munch tomorrow to see if he can dig us up anything from his end of the world." Olivia added.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its short, I will fix it later. I just wanted to update for y'all


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just about 16 years ago Rafael Barba met the mother of Whitney Windsor in Missouri while on a trip with his alumni mock group from Harvard. She came back to New York City with him and left when her brother threatened to hurt Rafael if she didn't come home. This is what happened when Whitney finds Rafael.

_rin-ring the phone buzzed and a red light flashed_

 

_rin-ring the red light flashed again_

 

_ri the red light flashed again but the ring was cut off_

Olivia immediately grabbed her office phone and double checked the caller ID to see that it was the lab. It was. She greeted them but was greeted by a fast talking tech, it wasn't a surprise as the recent increase of DNA based cases meant the lab was the busiest it had been since the last serial rapist. The tech spoke fast as he gave her the results "Okay- can you text the result st o the squad- okay, thank you McCallan." She had to  

  

With the results she left her office grabbing her coat and keys yelling to the others as she passed "Go pick up Whitney from the shelter, I'll get Barba"

Fin and Rollins looked up from their desks, looked at each other then nodded and stood up. Grabbing their own coats and keys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barba was eating Rie noodles and supsed lamb from the Thai fast food joint down the street when Olivia knocked at his office door. He finished his bite and then called "Come in." He set down the fast food box and shifted a few case files. Glancing over his notes to see if he had gotten any grease stains on them. "What do you need Liv?"

 

Olivia entered the room and shut the door behind her "Rafael we need to talk, we got the results from the lab back." It was a moment of silence after that statement and Olivia took the time to sit in a chair near his desk.

 

"Okay and so-" Rafael reluctantly asked, tapping his fingers impatiently on the mahogany wood of his desk.

 

"Rafael the lab results show that you are her paternal father" Olivia said rather quickly and with a sigh nor happy or sad because hos 

 

" Okay so what do I need to do now?" Rafaeal asked.

 

"You need to come down to the precinct with us and we will contact social services in Missouri, in that time if you want to talk to her you can."

 

"Lets go." His voice wasn't as confident or as pepped before. Rafael stood up and put on his suit jacket and then walking over to the coat rack to get his over coat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fin looked to Munch as Munch looked over the case file "So what do you think John?"

 

"What I think is that Barba is a new father and is 16 years late to get the news." They were in front of the two-way window and Whitney was inside the box, they faced each other.

 

"Funny Munch but serious do you think it will good for Whitney to live with Barba or what?"

 

"What they need to do is talk."

 

"And I hope they do."

Munch looked towards the bullpen to see if Olivia had come back yet, because she didn't know he was here due to the fact that Fin had called him with the news. Liv was walking into the bull pen with Rafael in tow, his face more distraught than anything and he was showing the most emotion he had ever in front of them. She said something to Rafael and they made their way over to them. 

"What's the plan?"

Rafael shrugged and Olivia placed a reassuring hand on his upper arm. He looked inside the box, sighed and then looking back at the rest of them "I guess i'm going to go talk to her." He turned on his foot and walked to the door opening it slowly, he stepped inside quickly and shut the door behind him. Whitney looked up at him and smiled.

"He really is going to talk with her isn't he" it wasn't a question.

"I don't think he has a choice now does ?" Munch responded.

"I guess not."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just about 16 years ago Rafael Barba met the mother of Whitney Windsor in Missouri while on a trip with his alumni mock group from Harvard. She came back to New York City with him and left when her brother threatened to hurt Rafael if she didn't come home. This is what happened when Whitney finds Rafael

Whitney looked up from the styrofoam cup she had in her hands, traces of cheap coffee on the inside still lingered, the look she gave up at Rafael was heart breaking. Her smile appeared, Rafael's heart slowed and it stopped beating in his throat. Rafael was still wearing his tan over coat and he was moving fast over to the table so he could sit, it made him look bigger than he actually was.

There was no introduction needed and he got to the sad but pointedly necessary. "When did Sarah.." He asked, but he couldn't look at her when he did so.

"Mom died 9 years ago" Whitney replied softly. She looked at the table briefly, blinking away would be tears.

"How.." Rafael lightly pressed.

"Bled out after David beat her up again.."

"Her brother David?"

"Yes."

They were both at the point of crying, Whitney wiped away the tears that we silently streaming down her face and Rafael wiped away the one on his cheek. But Rafael wasn't about to sob in public especially with the people who thought he was indestructible watching on the other side of the glass.

"Why?"

"Because she wanted to tell you about me."

In his first moments of actually being a father, he offered his hand to her. And she took it.

 

By the time Rafael left the room his face was a light shade of red and slightly puffy, warranting sympathetic looks from everyone and a comforting hand on his upper arm when he stood with everyone in Olivia's office.

Rafael sighed "16 years ago my mock group from Havard went on an Alumni trip to southern Missouri. We talked at a local high school where I met Whitney's mother. She decided to come back to New York with me after I convinced her she would be safer with me than her brother. After a few weeks her brother, David came up and found us. I was at work when he confronted her and threatened if she didn't leave with him he would hurt me. She left that day with him and left a note for me. That was the last time I heard from her or her brother or anyone from Missouri for that matter. She died 9 years ago after her brother beat to death her because she wanted to tell me about Whitney."

At this point he had taken his over coat off and had regain his composure. 

"Barba you know we have to tell the DA right? And you know we can't promise that it's going to stay with in just our circles, the media might catch wind.. If it does we will do our best to keep it control but.." Olivia asked Rafael as she leaned against her desk, clearly concerned about the entire situation.

"I know and I'm going to get another ADA to cover my cases until this is dealt with."

"So what are you going to do about Whitney right now?" Munch asked Rafael with also as much concern as Olivia had in her voice.

"I can't leave her on her own in the shelter, I have an extra room so I guess I'll take her home with me and things will go from there."

"We will update you once we get something okay?"

"Okay."


End file.
